Poisson studied (under Laplace) at the École Polytechnique in Paris. From 1802 to 1808 he taught at the École, attaining the chair in pure mathematics at the Faculté des Sciences. He published in many branches of mathematics. His major work on probability, published in 1837, was Recherches sur la Probabilité des Jugements en Matière Criminelle et en Matière Civile (Researches on the Probability of Criminal and Civil Verdicts). In this long book (over 400 pages) only about one page is devoted to the derivation of the distribution that now bears his name. He is alleged to have said that ‘Life is good for only two things: to study mathematics and to teach it’. He was elected FRS in 1818 and was awarded the Society’s Copley Medal in 1832. He was elected FRSE in 1820.

http://www.umass.edu/wsp/resources/poisson/poisson.html Information and portrait.